Eriochloa contracta grows in fields, ditches, and other disturbed
areas. It is known only from the United States, being native and common
in the central United States, and adventive to the east and southwest.
It differs from E.
acuminata in its tightly contracted, almost cylindrical panicles
and longer lemma awns, but intermediate forms can be found. It can also
be confused with first-year plants of the perennial E.
punctata, which have glabrous leaves, narrower and more tapering spikelets,
and longer lemma awns.